Abstract

The oxidation and antioxidant status of serum are often determined in serum samples which have been frozen for some time. The oxidative stress process is prone to fast alterations in the sample because of the possible instability of the reactants. Here one oxidation assay (ROM) and three antioxidant assays (FRAP, TAS, and BAP) have been tested on their performance and stability at short-time storage. The most commonly used temperatures for storage and handling of serum samples (+4 and +20°C) were selected. In three short-term studies in which the storage time varied between 3 and 48 hrs the performance of these assays were tested on human serum samples. The general conclusion is that most assays performed well and gave stable results during 2 days of storage of the samples at both temperatures. Only the FRAP and TAS assays showed a small deviation at some storage conditions.
In conclusion, handling of serum samples at +4 and +20°C during short-time periods did not affect the quality and performance of the oxidation and antioxidant assays during day-to-day analyses.